Hands On With Microsoft’s Surface 3

Microsoft is back at the well with a new Surface device, the Surface 3. If you’re familiar with the Surface Pro 3, which was released last year, you understand the Surface 3: It’s like the Pro 3 but smaller and less expensive.

The new Surface will cost you $499 at base, a sharp discount from the lowest-tier Surface Pro 3 which tips the scale at $799. Microsoft hopes that it can drive new unit volume with the Surface 3, a bet that presumes that consumers have similar tastes in form factors.

It’s worth remembering that until the Surface Pro 3, that was an open question on the corporate side of things; the Surface 3 will press the same question to a wider audience.

I sat down with the Surface 3 and its predecessors to get a better feel for the new device. Can it help Microsoft’s hardware dreams come true? Hit play and let’s get started.